LETTER TO GENIUS

A boy was very worry because he must write an exercise if art history and he usually was very disagreeing with art history, contrary he was very bother and every artist for him was useless. But exercise want that this history should be knew, and he must make this exercise. He raised eyes and looked an image on poster, Leonard by Vinci, that was room of his girlfriend who contrary was lover of art history, and she was went often in Museum where she stood for days; Michael Angel, this is was name of boy, very inappropriate but perhaps not much, tried search something in his mind for go out from this trouble, until he saw a book on the table with title Letters to genius, and for much curiosity, because Michael Angel was very curios, opened this book and he begun read, sometime he stopped read and though, after he begun again. For a moment Michael Angel has an idea, a flash in his mind that he stopped very soon. A letter to Leonard, alone for amuse, for pure amuse. He begun with together thinks and he though: “How do I would write a letter to Leonard?”, then he took pen and paper and wrote: “Dear Leonard I would must write an exercise around your painter, but I haven’t red never your Treatise on painting, and I don’t understand painting; I sincerely hate art history, I have much trouble because I don’t know what I can write”, Michael Angel close paper and a improvise sleep took him. Day after Michael Angel got up and drunk a coffee, he tough soon to his exercise and gone to table, where he found a letter close, he opened this letter and read in Italian: “Most dear Michael Angel I am Leonard and I write for to say you that your problem isn’t understand painting or my painting, because for this trouble you can know perfectly my painting alone looking my interest around nature and science; see Virgin of stones, like is called usually, look stones how those are treated with attention and punctual brushstroke, because I have looked with attention stones and every grass; my painting is translation of my studies around to nature both and human nature, because look my studies around expression, look Anghiari battle, and posture of horse, I love animals, this posture is same for that battle, and anatomy of man is field very charming for studies, but I haven’t interesting for painting and I studies anatomy for to know around man not certainly for painting, my aim is to know and not to painting”, Michael Angel red three time this letters and his astonish was for who has wrote this letter, he though a jokey of his girlfriend and smiled for this think; in fact he phoned Artemisia, his girlfriend, but she was while lesson and he lift a message on her phone with: “Thank you, but what do you tell around painting on your treatise?”, after this question he felt deeply sleep and in fact he slept on the table. When he was awake he found other letter, and opened soon it, and he begun to read: “What I have wrote around painting? Simple I haven’t wrote this treatise, this book is alone together of notes that I have wrote on much paper and after my pupil Melzi has together and published, and I have expressed my opinion but without connection, what I have though I have wrote, as an example that identifies similitude between nature and painting: painting is imitator of nature, and imitator of every evident thing in nature, and painting considers every formal qualities of nature, sea, place, plant, animals, grass, flower, and this is because the painting is born by nature, with painting we can deceive animals, I have saw a painting that deceives dog because his owner was painted, and dogs that would torn other dogs painted, and more over a think around poesy and painting, poetry tells what is happen with pen but painter with brush”, Michael Angel then wrote other letter with some question, and Leonard answered to these question, and their report continued for much time; Michael Angel felt that art history perhaps was comprehensible also to him, in fact he opened book around Leonard and read, the Portrait of woman that Leonard carried with himself to French and whit much obscure points, who was this woman, and because this posture and other; he begun to be charming by figure of Leonard and art history, then he gone often to library for to take much book around art history. When he 25 years older and for thesis, he chosen Leonard as argument, and he shew the letters that he has wrote with Leonard, where was shew everything around Leonard, and he has tool his thesis and when he went back to home with congratulations of much professor and other persons, he undressed and he looked himself on the mirror, and he saw a person very older and with long hair and long beard, and this image has said to Michael Angel: “Now you know my treatise around painting, and you know art history, and Leonard by Vinci, my advices are very useful for your culture, great season”, and Michael Angel answered with smile and: “Thank you my master, we have wrote one other a thousand letters, and now I teach you think to student at college, then as much we will write”.      

Alessandro Lusana